


Joke's On You Man

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [15]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Bonding, Fluff, Gen, keith cries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9644162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Keith's grandpa makes a joke, that poor Keith takes too literally and he is not a happy baby.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "baby Keith staying at his grandparents (just for the day) and Keith asks when his dad will be back his grandpa being like "you get to live with us now, keithy, won't that be fun?" Like obviously teasing and expecting Keith to be excited because he really does love his grandparents house but let's be real he's a huge daddy's boy his daddy is the greatest thing to him and he thinks his grandpa is serious and so he panics and Shiro has to come promise that Keith is coming home with him."

  Keith loved his grandparents.

              He really did.

              His grandmother was always patient and soft with him, and over the years she had learned how to help him deal with the stresses of life. She was someone that Keith often liked to listen to as she went on about her day and how she had to deal with _Margret_ at the grocery store again. Margret was always a menace with her tiny Pomeranian that yapped and yapped.

              Keith’s grandfather, despite being a man who’d had a son that did sports, was very social and was a military man, was surprisingly adapting towards Keith’s needs. He understood not to push Keith to play sports at the moment or to encourage any of Keith’s talents. He was secretly one of Keith’s biggest supporters when it came to the scribbles of art that Keith would create.

              However, they were old and still learning about Keith’s diagnosis. Sometimes they made mistakes or didn’t understand an explanation from Shiro.

              Usually they made jokes that Keith didn’t understand.

              Keith was still learning but he wasn’t much of a big joker. There were still many jokes that Keith couldn’t quite figure out especially when it came to sarcasm. However, Keith was slowly learning even if he hadn’t quite gotten around to speaking after three years with Shiro. Initially Shiro was worried about Keith’s lack of verbal communication, thinking that Keith should be communicating to some degree by the age of three, even if it was little words or phrases.

              Keith could point and understand things that Shiro was saying or asked of him, but he often didn’t look directly at Shiro or his grandparents, or anyone really for that matter. Which meant that Keith was learning to _understand_ Shiro but he just wasn’t speaking quite yet.

              For now, Shiro was okay with that and knew Keith would speak whenever he was ready. It would just take some time.  

              Although, Keith was quite clingy and even very affectionate when it came to Shiro. More often than not, he could be found in Shiro’s arms or holding Shiro’s hand and sometimes even giving him small kisses. Keith was affectionate around his grandparents and loved them too in his own way, but no one could compare to his dad.

              And everyone knew this.

              Still, that didn’t mean that people never joked about it.

              Including Keith’s grandparents.

              Shiro was reluctant to ever go a night without Keith. However, his new prosthetic required him to go to a base on the other side of town, meaning Shiro would be gone most of the day. If everything went well, Shiro could probably meet his parents to pick Keith up by dinnertime. Of course he had left Keith over at his grandparents before, but usually only for an hour a few. Not the entire day like this, but he had no other choice. This new arm was supposed to have better finger mobility and grip than his last one (which meant holding onto Keith more firmly). He couldn’t miss out on this opportunity, no matter how much he didn’t want to leave Keith alone.

              So, Shiro sucked it up (grumbling more than a child would) and left Keith with his parents for the day. Keith was well set, with two whole bags of toys, books and coloring pages on top of the baskets of goodies at Keith’s grandparents’ house. Shiro left a list of at least a dozen ways to reach him and it took his mother threatening to kiss him in front of all his old army buddies to get Shiro to finally leave for his appointment.

              Luckily, Shiro’s parents had managed to distract Keith for at least four hours before Keith noticed Shiro’s absence.

              At first Keith would wander around the entire house, small blanket trailing behind him on the floor. His grandmother followed after him, ever the worrier for his safety, as Keith trailed from room to room. She laughed as his frown deepened every time he entered an empty room and she was sure her camera would be full of pictures of a pouting Keith, but she would fill up as many memory cards of her grandson as she could.

              It was apparent that Keith was beginning to stress when he stomped from rooms that he had already checked and rubbed his hands against the blanket. Occasionally, Keith would stop at a picture of Shiro on the wall and stare, no doubt recognizing him as his dad. Then he would move on to check another room with his grandmother following close behind.

              “Keith, sweetie, why don’t you and I join grandpa for some pie? How does that sound?” Keith’s grandmother finally said when Keith almost threw his blanket down in agitation. Keith continued to try to stomp throughout the house but he was silently led into the kitchen by his grandmother. She wrestled with him for a few moments to get him into his chair before she gave up, deciding that he would be alright. Thankfully while she cut the pie, Keith didn’t try to leave the kitchen but instead faced his grandpa.

              “Hey there kiddo.” His grandfather smiled down at the boy to which Keith merely scowled to. His grandfather blinked in surprise, causing his grandmother to sigh.

              “I think he’s finally realized that Shiro won’t be around for a bit.” She replied.

              “I bet he doesn’t like that. Keith is such a daddy’s boy.” His grandfather chuckled with a shake of his head. Keith’s grandmother smiled and began to set three plates of pie on the table.

              “No. He’s just not used to his daddy being away from him for more than a few hours.”

              “I seem to remember a young little Takashi who was the same way with his mother.”

              “Oh stop it. Takashi was just a sweet little boy.”

              “Just like Keith.”

              “Exactly. You know it must be difficult for Keith to be away from his daddy.” Keith’s grandmother said while his grandfather snorted. The two began to dig into their pies before Keith’s grandfather attempted to hand Keith his own slice of pie. Normally, the boy jumped at any chance to get grandma’s homemade chocolate pudding pie, but with the mood he was in today he only turned his nose up at his grandfather. With the few years he’d been with Keith, thankfully he wasn’t offended by Keith’s behavior.

              “Aw, now don’t do that son. Don’t you like grandma’s yummy pie?” Keith’s grandfather tried to coax his grandson. He waved the pie around Keith’s face but the three-year-old would not budge and simply huffed. Keith’s grandfather chuckled while setting the slice of pie back on the table with a shake of his head.

              Finally, Keith pointed up at the picture of Keith and Shiro on the table. Immediately his grandfather looked. Still Keith continued to point?

              “What? You want this picture? Here you go.” Keith’s grandfather asked and then grabbed the picture. He began to hand it to Keith who vehemently shook his head and pointed at the picture. “What? What are you trying to say?” Keith continued to shake his head and point.

              Eventually Keith pointed directly at Shiro in the picture.

              “Your dad? That’s your dad son.” At this, Keith’s eyes lit up for a second and he nodded before continuing to point directly at the Shiro in the picture. “Are you asking, where your dad is?” Once again, Keith nodded and his grandfather began to realize what Keith was trying to ask of them. _Of course he’s noticed._

              “Oh, now you don’t need your daddy anymore right?” Keith’s grandfather joked, not seeing the frown forming on little Keith’s face. Keith’s grandmother chuckled. “You get to live with grandma and grandpa from now on, won’t that be fun?”

              Apparently this was the wrong thing to say.

              For in that next second, Keith’s eyes filled with big, fat tears and a surprising _loud_ wail erupted from Keith.

              _Shit._

x.V.x

              Shiro pressed his fingers against the scar on the bridge of his nose as he bounced Keith once more on his hip. Keith hadn’t stopped crying since he had entered the house, after racing home from his appointment (he was pretty sure he broke a few traffic laws, but that was okay). Keith’s heartbreaking sobs continued as snot dripped out of his nose and his face turned an ugly shade of red. Shiro had heard Keith cry before, but it was usually much quieter and not as messy, so for Keith to be in the state that he was, something _bad_ must have happened.

              “Mom. Dad. I love you both.” Shiro began quietly, rubbing his hand up and down Keith’s back. His arm trembled every time Keith’s body shook with sobs. “But can either of you explain _why_ my son is crying his heart out?” Shiro knew to be patient with his parents and they couldn’t have possibly harmed Keith. Surely this all had to be a misunderstanding.

              “It was just a joke.” Despite his attempt to brush it off, Shiro’s father couldn’t help but nervously look over his grandson with an aching heart. _Was this all his fault._

              Shiro sighed. “What exactly was the joke?”

              “Keith couldn’t find you and when he asked where you were, all I did was joke that he was living with your mom and I for now on, and then he just burst into tears!” Shiro’s father bit his lip while Shiro bounced Keith onto his other hip. Keith’s sobs were only beginning to subside but he wasn’t stopping anytime soon.

              “Dad, you know you can’t do that.”

              “What? I’m not allowed to have fun with my grandson?”

              “Dad it’s not that.” Shiro couldn’t help the sharp tone in his voice. He took a breath and pulled Keith against his neck to calm them both down. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to start a fight right now. “Look, I don’t expect any of you to understand what it’s like for Keith. Hell, even I don’t understand and I never fully will, because I’m _not_ Keith. I don’t experience what he does and his life will be quite different from you or mom. And one of those things you _need_ to be careful of is jokes. Dad, Keith doesn’t _understand_ when you’re joking sometimes. To Keith he just thinks that what you say is the truth and he doesn’t comprehend that you aren’t telling the truth.” Shiro tried to explain while still calming Keith down. He felt guilty as the hurt expression on his dad’s face, but if his parents wanted to continue to watch Keith they _had_ to understand.

              “Keith takes a lot of jokes seriously and some we can brush off, but when you joke that he’s going to be living with you and not me anymore…”

              “He thinks we’re being serious.” Shiro’s mother whispered and Shiro nodded.

              “It’s not his fault and he’s not stupid just because he hasn’t spoken yet.” Shiro reminded them.

              “Of course not! Keith is the smartest boy I know.” Shiro’s father defended, causing Shiro to smile. _They could learn._ His father sighed, shoulders slumped and sad eyes gazing at Keith. “I’m sorry son. I didn’t realize how much I affected him.”

              “I get that dad and it’s okay. Just try to be more careful about what you joke with him.” Shiro said with a soft smile, waiting for his dad and mom to nod. When they both finally did, Shiro felt a hundred times lighter and better about the whole situation. Then he could turn his attention to Keith.

              “Hey Keith, baby. Hey.” Shiro called softly, brush big trails of tears from Keith’s face. Keith hiccupped and his grip tightened on Shiro’s shirt. “Hey now, daddy’s not going anywhere. You’re going home with daddy where you belong…”

              It might have taken Shiro almost two hours to finally calm Keith down, and to get Keith to realize that Shiro was taking him home. He’d had to kiss and snuggle with Keith more than a few times (to which Shiro was happy to do) but eventually he managed to convince Keith that his grandfather was a big fibber.

              Keith had forgiven his grandfather after a bit, thanks to all the love he had for the man and Shiro was finally able to go home.

              There was a long road ahead for him and Keith but at least Shiro had his parents by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh poor Grandpa Shirogane. He didn't mean it Keith; thankfully daddy Shiro knows just how to comfort his son! I hope you enjoyed this one shot with the others too!
> 
> Thanks and peaceout!


End file.
